Quick find key holder



March 9' l. G. POVICH QUICK FIND KEY HOLDER Filed May 14, 1948 Patented Mar. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE QUICK FIND KEY HOLDER Ivan G. Povich, St.'Louis, Mo.

Application May 14, 1948, Serial No. 27,029

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to key holders for holding door or desk keys, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a form of key holder adapted for holding a plurality of door or desk keys in such manner that any desired key may be easily-andquiekly found and turned out for use.

Another object of the invention is to provide akey holder of the kind referred to, the same including a key case of sheet metal or other suitable material, the said case being closed at the back and sides but open at the ends and on the frontal side, a slender key-holding bolt removably passed through the two oppositesides of the case, adjacent the open top end thereof and in parallel and outwardly spaced relation to the intermediate back of the case, a plurality of tubular, flange headed shims freely mounted upon the bolt, a plurality of key tabs or markers, apertured at one end, and thereby frictionally pressed upon the said shims and up against outwardly flanged ends thereof, the said tabs being turned upwardly through the open end of the case and being of successively varying lengths for the purpose of diflerentiating one from the other and providing outstanding ends suitable for carrying key indexes, the ends of the shims opposite the flanged heads being split or slotted diametrically in rightangled relation for providing teeth or spurs for bending frictionally up against the flat and aperturecl heads of keys as same are mounted upon the key-holding bolt of the case, whereby keys as thus mounted in the case are readily distinguished and selected for use and may be turned angularly out for use through the open side of the case by merely turning the attached key marker tab in the reverse direction.

With the stated objects in view, together with such additional objects and advantages as may appear from the specification, attention is directed to the accompanying drawing as illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a key holder constructed in accordance with this invention, showing the open side of the case and edge-wise views of the keys and marker tabs as mounted therein.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the assembly as shown in Figure 1, showing the keys as all closed within the case.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing however two of the keys turned outwardly of the case.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the assembly shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail on an enlarged scale, of one of the key marker tabs.

Figure '7 is a detail on an enlarged scale, of one of the tubular shims upon which the keys are mounted.

Figure 3 is a section on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 8-43 of Figure 5.

The key holder, the subject matter of this invention, comprises a case referred to generally at 5, the same being made ofsheet metal .or plastic, or any other suitable material, and including a back plate in and connected side plates 5 51:, the back plate being out angularly down'at its upper end as indicated at Rio, and the side plates being beveled angularly off from the back plate upwardly and forwardly as indicated at 511, and rounded off on their upper forward margins as at he, and thence tapered oil to their lower ends as at 5]. A slender key-holding bolt 6 is removably passed through the two opposite sides of the case, near the upper end thereof and inparallel and outwardly spaced relation to the back plate 5a of the case. A plurality of tubular keycarrying shims l are freely mounted upon the bolt it within the case 5, these shims being formed with flanged heads la and being split or slotted diametrically in right angled relation at their opposite ends to form teeth or spurs 11). A plurality of key-marker or index tabs 8, 8a, 8b, 8c, of successively increased length as shown, and apertured at their lower ends as at 811, are thereby frictionally pressed upon the shims over the split ends thereof, and firmly up against the outwardly flanged heads la thereof, the said tabs being turned upwardly through the upper end of the case. By this arrangement the successively increased lengths of the tabs 8, 8a, 8b, to, operate for the purpose of designating the different keys 9, 9a, 9b, 90, as same are mounted in place upon the shims. Tlns mounting is effected by passing the split ends of the shims through the apertures 8d of the key handles, then pressing the key handles firmly up against the index tabs, and finally bending the teeth or spurs lb of the shims flatly and firmly up against the key handles as the working ends of the keys hang downward within the case 5, thus frictionally locking the key-marker or index tabs to their respective keys in such manner that when the tabs are turned outwardly at their upper ends, the pendant keys will be turned oppositely out of the case, ready for use. In order to facilitate the pulling out of the key index or marker tabs, the upper margins of these tabs may be notched, as at 8e, for engaging a finger nail of the user. The projected upper ends of the tabs provide sigh spaces upon which key indexing words, such as house, oflice, garage, may be written in luminous ink or paint, for effectively designating the several keys, either by day or night. The elements are assembled in the case 5 by passing the threaded end of the bolt 6 through one side plate 5b thereof and successively mounting on the bolt in manner above pointed out, first the longest key tab 80 and associated key 90 and bending up the spurs lb against the key handle as explained, then th next longest key 9b and tab 81), then the keys and tabs 9a8a and 98, and finally projecting the threaded end of the bolt through the opposite side plate 50 of the case, and turning up the nut 6a upon the outwardly extended end of the bolt, thus releasably locking the elements togethter. The angular cut of the back plate 5a provides clearance for the key index tabs to be turned straightly downward into the case for operatively projecting any desired key upward and out for use.

From the foregoing description, it is thought that the construction, operation and use of the key holder will be fully understood, and while I have here shown and described a preferred form of the device and structural features thereof, it is understood that the said structural details may be changed or modified as desired, within th scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A key holder of the kind described, the same comprising a case includng a back plate and two connected side plates extended from opposite margins of the back plate, the case being left open at its front and ends, a key holding bolt passed transversely through the upper ends of the side plates in spaced relation to the back plate, a plurality of tubular and headed key and marker shims mounted freely on the said bolt, key marker or index tabs apertured at their lower ends and thereby fixedly pressed upon the shims against the heads thereof, the opposite ends of the shims being split open to form spurs, whereby the apertured handles of keys may be passed upon the shims and pendantly anchored in fixed alignment with the upwardly extended key 4 marker or index tabs by bending said spurs up against the key handles.

2. A key holder of the kind referred to, the same including a key case of sheet metal or other suitable material, the said case being closed at the back and sides but open at the ends and on the frontal side, a slender key-holding bolt removably passed through the two opposite sides of the case, adjacent the open top end thereof and in parallel and outwardly spaced relation to the intermediate back of the case, a plurality of bular, flange headed shims freely mounted up n the bolt, a plurality of key tabs or markers, ap rtured at one end, and thereby frictionally presse upon the said shims and up against outwardly fianged ends thereof, the said tabs being turned upwardly through th open end of the case and being of successively varying lengths for the purpose of differentiating one from the other and providing outstanding ends suitable for carrying key indexes, the ends of the shims opposite the flanged heads being split or slotted diametrically in rightangled relation for providing teeth or spurs for bending frictionally up against the fiat and apertured heads of keys as same are mounted upon the key-holding bolt of the case, whereby keys as thus mounted in the case are readily distinguished and selected for use and may be turned angularly out for use through the open side of the case by merely turning the attached key marker tab in th revers direction.

- IVAN G. POVICH.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Shook July 3, 1934 Number 1,965,472 

